Chapter 12: Chapter 12. First Encounter with Cultivators.

The next morning, Tatyana woke up feeling uncomfortable. Her clothes were clinging to her skin, and the humidity from the forest had made her hair somewhat damp. She hadn't slept very comfortably, but at least she had some hours of rest.

She slowly sat up from the bed she had made with dry branches and other materials and went to the river to wash her face. She looked at herself and saw that she was much better than yesterday. 'Good, the swelling in some of the wounds has subsided. If it didn't, I would have to find some medicinal plants to disinfect them.'

She took some fruits out of her backpack and sat silently to eat them. It was very early in the morning, and the Sun hadn't even shown up in the sky. Still, some of the darkness had begun disappearing as sunrise came.

Tatyana smiled and motivated herself, 'Another day begins! Today will be a good day.'

She ate the round reddish fruit in her hand, filling her stomach, and stood up. Then, she took the backpack and continued walking across the shore.

Today was her fourth day in the woods.

During these days, Tatyana didn't just walk downstream. She also looked around, and when she found a valuable plant, she would harvest it and keep it inside her pouch.

Even if they were damaged, she didn't have the tools to preserve them perfectly, so she had to do with what she had. Tatyana muttered, "Since I don't have money, at least I can gain something when I sell these in the town. With a small budget, I will be able to do things properly."

Tatyana then thought, 'Will people buy them? Hmm, I can't see why they wouldn't. They are medical plants from deep in the woods. Moreover, some of them have strange auras around them. Since they are hard to harvest, their value in the towns near my home is high. They should be as valuable in other places, right?'

As she kept walking, she suddenly heard sounds to her left, which startled her. Memories of the boar crossed her mind, so she took out her sword instantly, leaving the bag at the side almost in the same motion.

She nervously looked in that direction, expecting a beast to burst from the depths of the forests. 'Focus, Tatyana. You have to fight cleverly this time! You now have the [Spiral Thrust] skill.'

However, she became doubtful as the approaching sounds began moving away. In the end, nothing appeared.

Nonetheless, the sounds didn't stop, and when Tatyana focused, she could distinguish the sound of metal colliding together. She was surprised, "Are there people fighting each other?"

With that thought in mind, Tatyana didn't dare remain close to that place and ran away.

Although she was curious about what was happening and wanted to approach, after her fight with the boar, she realized how vulnerable she was and wouldn't be stupid enough to come near a combat area.

Moreover, although finding other people would be good, if they are fighting each other, the chances she becomes entangled in their conflict are high. Furthermore, no matter which side she picks, if that side loses, her troubles wouldn't end in getting involved.

Also, It is not like she can stop their fight and ask for directions, right?

Tatyana made a wry smile thinking of that situation. However, she wasn't discouraged. If there were people in this area, it meant that a place with people, a town or a city, shouldn't be that far away.

Tatyana picked up her pace and continued in the same direction for a while. She wanted to escape the combat area as fast as possible.

When she was sure she was far enough, she looked down at herself. She still hadn't changed clothes; the ones she wore were dirty and unsightly. Tatyana thought she would soon be meeting with other people. "I should change clothes. Even if I can't bathe myself in the wild, I can at least make myself more presentable, or else they might confuse me with a suspicious person."

Tatyana found a place covered by bushes, hastily removed her clothes, and changed into her other dress. It wasn't the one Loreia gifted her since she feared damaging it. She took it with her to have a memory of her Big sister and only wore it if she really needed it.

The dress she put on was brown and white, with a long and comfortable skirt. She wouldn't have problems moving around with it. The top was mainly white with long sleeves and the collar high enough not to show her bosom. It was a very conservative and rural dress.

She didn't take long to change into it. In less than three minutes, she dressed up again. Tatyana looked at the dirty dress and was somewhat stumped. 'What do I do with the dirty dress? I haven't thought of that...'

She looked inside her backpack and didn't have anything to cover them with. Tatyana sighed, 'So stupid.'

She took the cloth she used to place over the bed at night and sighed again. 'Well, it will be a little bit itchy at night, but I'm almost near a town. I think I.'

She wrapped the dirty clothes in the bigger ones to avoid dirtying the rest and kept them inside her backpack again. Then, she continued forward with a clean brown and white village dress.

However, the closer she got to the town, the more people appeared wandering around the forest. Tatyana could even spot different groups of mercenaries running around, hunting for beasts. She tried to remain inconspicuous. She didn't want to attract attention and be attacked by a group.

After just half an hour, a wounded beast, similar to a bear, broke through the vegetation on her right, charging straight at her.

But no matter how sudden, Tatyana was prepared.

She instantly took out her sword and threw her backpack to the side.

Without a shred of hesitation, she began gathering energy in the specific pattern she had learned not too long ago. Her energy moved inside her meridians smoothly and gathered toward her arm. Then, she thrust forward with her sword, aiming toward the head of the creature. "[Spiral Thrust]!"

The bear didn't expect to find someone in its way, but seeing that it was a single and small creature, it didn't even bother changing the course of its charge. With a roar, it ran straight toward Tatyana.

That would be its first and last fatal mistake.

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With the big animal charging straight at her, aiming was hard and easy at the same time.

Hard because of the pressure of having such a big creature running with a murderous look, and easy because it would be like aiming at a stationary target.

When Tatyana finished thrusting her sword, the wind bullet shot toward the center of its bleeding forehead.

The moment Tatyana thrust her sword, the bear sensed danger, but it was too late.

The wind bullet zoomed forward at high speed, and the next instant, a muffled impact of the bullet hitting its head spread in the surroundings.

The bear instantly lost its life as the spinning bullet pierced through the skull and turned the brain to mush. However, the enormous momentum of the creature made it roll forward, approaching Tatyana.

She moved out of the way, and the bear landed precisely where she previously was. Tatyana prepared herself, fearing it was still alive, but the creature just lay there immobile. Tatyana's heart was thumping with dread and excitement. 'As expected of a Spirit-level skill. It is so powerful! I was able to kill this beast that looks much stronger than the boar with a single attack.'

Tatyana curiously approached the beast, but the ruffling of the bushes took her attention away. She became worried that there were more animals or the thing it hurt it this badly would come out of the forest. 'Should I run?'

However, what appeared was a group of seven people. There were four men and three women.

All of them were quite old compared to Tatyana but young considering the general populace. They were in their early to late twenties. They were all wearing blue robes with cloud patterns on them and carrying different weapons on them.

Tatyana was surprised because she could feel an aura coming from all seven of them. 'They are all respected immortals!? W-What should I do?'

However, her expression remained calm and nonchalant even if her thoughts were somewhat in disarray. She had gained the ability to control her facial expression after dealing with the town's people for years since she was very little.

Her beauty had always attracted a lot of attention, and she learned that ignoring them or showing no emotion was the best way to drive them away, so she practiced her facial expressions a lot in the village on her own.

And since beauty was the main problem, Tatyana always carried an ice-cold expression to look herself less approachable. Of course, this fake self only appeared whenever she wasn't with Loreia or her family.

Tatyana would reveal her real childish self only with her big sister, mom, and dad.

When the group of seven arrived, they saw their prey dead on the ground. At first, they thought it had died of its injuries, so they were happy. However, when they spotted another person besides the bear, they frowned. Their first thought was that this person came to steal their prey.

Still, they were impressed when they looked at the person in more detail. Even though her hair and face were slightly messy, her clothes were clean, and her complexion was good. Moreover, she was alone inside the Harpan Forest, a place where high-level Mortal beasts were somewhat common. Those beasts could only be taken down by a group of level three or above cultivators.

One black-haired man, presumably the leader of the group, spoke to Tatyana. He was very handsome, and his smile has pleasant to look at. "Fellow Daoist, thank you for stopping the [Mad Bear]. We have been hunting it for hours and finally succumbed to the injuries we caused."

Tatyana's face remained indifferent, but she got even more nervous, 'Fellow Daoist!? I'm sorry, but I'm just a village girl! Why did I meet with so many respected immortals!?'

Of course, she didn't say that. Her red eyes looked at him calmly, and she nodded, "En."

The man felt somewhat awkward, 'Why is this beauty so cold? Is she angry we let the bear approach her? She may be the iceberg type.'

A beautiful woman at the side spoke, somewhat indignant. Her voice was high-pitched and annoying. "Our senior brother has thanked you. What is that half-assed answer!?"

Tatyana was even more confused and nervous, 'Why is she angry!?'

She said, trying to be more friendly. "Sorry." Still, her tone sounded cold because Tatyana was stiff and didn't know how to act before so many immortals.

The woman felt like Tatyana was looking down on her, so she was even more indignant. Thankfully, when she was about to scold Tatyana, that man tapped her shoulder. "Ruo Yun, let it be. We were the ones causing trouble, so it is normal if she is angry."

The woman saw the serious expression on the senior brother's face and nodded obediently. "If Senior Brother Hao Junjie says it, I won't bother with that rude child anymore."

Tatyana looked at the man named Hao Junjie with a grateful gaze. 'Thankfully, he isn't as unreasonable as the woman. He is very handsome too... All of them are. I've never seen so many good-looking people together.'

Still, she wasn't brave enough to join a group of immortals. She feared that her fragile little life would be in danger if she did so. Therefore, she decided that she didn't have to do anything more with this.

Tatyana calmly turned around and said, "Goodbye."

When she was about to run away from them... Literally. Hao Junjie stopped her with a shout. "Wait!"

Tatyana's whole body froze at his shout, and sweat fell from her forehead. 'Am I in trouble?'

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